Swimming appliance



March 22, 1932. L.. H..coPPE| SWIMMING APPLIANCE Filed July 27, 1951 u u ffm ATTORNEYS.

Patented a'Mar.; 2.2;119321` LEONARD`H. COPPEL, OIF LOS QANGLES, CALIFORNIA SWIMMING nrritrnitenr v Application filed July 27,

My invention relates to swimming and life saving appliances, and has for one of its objects the provision of a buoyant structure of such design` and construction that 1t `will prove to be of great help to those receiving instruction in the art of swimming and which, when used by an experienced swimmer, will enable him to move through the water with increased speed and with an expenditure of less exertion, thus preventing premature fatigue of the swimmer.

A further object-ofthe invention is to provide ay device of this ycharacter which will possess all of the desirable qualities of a life preserver and which, in addition thereto, is so characterized that it may be comfortably worn by the user and which will not hinder free use of the arms and legs.

Another object of the invention is to provide a swimmers appliance which is of light weight and capable of being folded to assume a comparatively small and lcompact form when notrin use.

A still further object of the invention 1s to provide a device which Lmay be satisfactorily employed as abeach cushion and which may be conveniently transported from place Y vto place as desired.

In the drawings, Y Figure 1 is a view showing the device aplied p Figure 2- is a view in elevation of the device; n Figure 3 is a section on line 3-3 of F1gure 2 Figure i is a section on line 4-4 of Figure 2;

\Figure 5 is a section on yline 5-5cof Fig- Figure 6 is a view similar to Figure 2, showing a slightly modiied form of the invention; and

, Figure 7 is a section taken on 4line 7 7 of Figure 6. ,Y

In carrying the invention into practice, use is made of a structure which is preferably formed of rrubber and provided with a circular neck-encircling portion 5 and an at tenuated portion 6, the latter being of such length that it will extend fromy a point at the 193i.; serial No. 553,387.

neck of the user toa point approximately l* at the waistline, ask clearly shown in Fig-` ure 1.- Said structure, `when formed of rubber, has its circular portion provided with an-air chamber 6 and'same directly communi Catesv ywith an yair chamber 8 ywhich extends lengthwise of the attenuated portion 6. The

free extremity of the portion 6 has its walls brought together and vulcanized one to the Vother so asto form a strong attachingtab 9,k and, as illustrated, same hasl vertical slots 10.formed thereinvand so arranged thata waistline belt-11 may be passed therethrough, thereby affording a meansof attachment of c the structure tothe body ofthe user.A This 1 varrangement is also such that the circular portion. 5 is maintained ina relatively fixed position with respect to the shoulders of the user, it beingy desired that the shoulders rest against saidportion when the tab 9 is secured to the belt as just mentioned, This construction is also desirableV in order that Ithe, head of the swimmer may at the latters option be slipped through'thehole in the portion 5 and the entiredevice turned downward, after which the fring portion maybe placed under` the buttocks ofthe swimmer in,y order that` the-swimmermay sit upon such portion and float upon. the surface ofthe water. f I have shown the device applied to the person of the user with the attenuated portion n6 extendl ingalongthe back of the user, but this is entirely optional and it should be understood that the position of the device may :bereversed soy as to bring th-e attenuated portion 6 inr front of the swimmer. In ordernthat the attenuated portion 6 may adapt itself to the contour lines of the user at its p-oint of application, it is desirable that such portion bek wider at its base or free end than at any other pointy in the length ythereof andrthat` the sides of this portion. be curved inwardly andthenmerge gradually, asat 12, into the peripheral surface of the y,ring portion. This also provides forfvan increase inthe area of the -air chamber; within kthe attenuated portion 6 at the point 13 thereof.

Connected with the free extremity of the c attenuated portion6 and leading to the air chamber thereof is a flexible inflatingl tube 14 by means of which air may be supplied to both the chamber of the attenuated portion 6 and the chamber of the ring portion. When the structure has been sufficiently inflated so as to give it the desired buoyancy, the exible tube 14 may be folded upon itself and the folds thereof tied together by a rubber band, after which the tubeima-yfbetucked under the Waistline belt 11.

In the modified form of the invention shown in Figures Gand 7, theL structure is preferably formed from a single length of rubber tubing and the structure is provided with an attenuated portionl similar to the portion 6 in the preferred embodiment and aringfportion 16 similar to the aforementioned portion `5. The attenuated portion 15 is formed by bringing two leads or branches 17, 17, of the tubing together and lacing! one to the other, as at 18. In order thatithis may be satisfactorily accomplished, strips of fabric 19 are vulcanized to the branches 17, 17, and same are formed with eyelets120 through which alac'ing r21 maybe trained. The free extremity of each of the Vportions 17 is formedwith an attaching tab 22,4and same is provided with vertical slots 23 forthe accommodation therethrough of awwaistline 4belt 24. n

I. do not'wish to be limited to the constructioncf my device fromfrubber, as it obviously followsy 'that same may beconstructed offanyother suitable well-known material and, in lieu of air, cork or similarmaterial my be employed to give vthe device the intended buoyancy.

Referring againto the preferred .embodi mentoffthe invention, it'follows thatwhen thel same isdeflated itmay be folded into a veryf compact lpackage that can be conveniently carriedupon the person of the user. It also follows that from the construction of the device same, when inflated,v mayy be removed from the yperson of the user and em ployedasabeach cushion. In either example,

it should be borne in mind that the arms and legs of'ithe user are at no time obstructed by anyportion of the device.v Iclaim as my invention z.

` A swimming appliance comprising a buoyant structure formed with a; neck-encircling portionand av single attenuated extension leadingtherefrom, and means for attaching theattenuated portion tothe vwaistlne ofthe user, yso vasto :permit the attenuated yportion toextend either-in yan upward direction from thewaistline with the neck-encircling portion positioned about the neck orin a downward direction'from the lwaistline with the ring portion-under the buttocks of the user.

LEONARD H. COPPEL.k 

